The Dumbest System
by Farrah44
Summary: Jackson Avery didn't always believe that people could have more than one soul-mate. He had once believed in the power of love and fighting for it at all costs. But seven years of heartbreak forced him to believe there had to be another soul-mate out there for him other than her. She had ruined him - and now she was back for more. The system really had it out for him. JacksonxOC
1. Chapter 1

**The Dumbest System**

**by Farrah44**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, only my OCs and my plot. **

**| Chapter One |**

There was a buzz filling the Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital hallways that morning. Summer was still intact as the rain poured outside the windows, leaving a dreary grey scene where the sun ought to have been. Days had passed with only minimal sunshine and the mood throughout the hospital would have normally been just as dreary as the storms had it not been for the excitement sparking said buzz.

The surgical interns were, for once, not vying for surgeries as they crowded the admin wing, awaiting a glimpse of the new candidates for the fellowship positions the chief was now interviewing for. The candidates had been shuffled in all week, twelve candidates in all, six that made the shortlist for each of the two open positions.

They'd seen doctors of all shapes and sizes, fresh out of their residencies with shiny new licenses from their recently passed boards. Whichever two doctors the chief hired meant that there would be fresh meat at Grey-Sloan Memorial and the interns weren't about to wait two weeks to find out who the new additions would be.

It had been Chief Hunt who had requested a new position for a surgical fellow in the Trauma department following the news of April Kepner's plans for departure. Of course the board had agreed due to April's announcement . She was only months away from her wedding day and since passing her boards just the previous year, she'd been offered a position in several of her top choice hospitals. This left Owen Hunt without a protege and in desperate need of a doctor with a passion for trauma.

But when the Chief got the 'go ahead' to launch a search for a new fellow, Callie Torres wanted in on the action as well. She'd complained that the Orthopedics Department had been neglected too long and that if she was going to stay at Grey-Sloan in the wake of her trial separation from her wife, she wanted a fellow to boss around as well.

Of course she'd gotten her way.

Which was why the interns were currently drooling over the new Orthopedic fellow candidate who had been sitting in Conference Room B with Drs. Hunt and Torres for the better part of an hour. The only information the four of them had gathered was his name - Reese Buchanan - and that he was a long way from his residency in Boston. He was tall with dark hair and beautiful eyes and Heather Brooks was sure she'd never seen a more perfect specimen of a man.

"They're going to hire him right?" she asked. Leah and Jo nodded eagerly, not tearing the eyes away from the small window where they could just see Dr. Buchanan's side profile. "I mean, they've got to hire this one. I haven't seen Torres stop smiling since he walked in."

"I don't know," Stephanie said skeptically. "He looks like the kind of guy who should have passed his boards, about three tries ago."

"You mean you think he looks old? Seriously?" Shane said and the four girls turned in his direction as if noticing for the first time that he was standing right next to them. He had, however, been standing there since the last three interviews, particularly the tall one with the legs who had already gotten his vote. Not that his vote counted.

"I just don't think he looks like a guy who just passed his boards is all," Stephanie added to her previous statement.

"I don't care how old he is, so long as he is hired, and I'm on his service," Leah said with a sign, taking a bite out of the red licorice in her hand.

"I'd let him service me," Heather replied and they all tried to stifle their laughs. "Oh come on Steph, you of all people should be interested in his hire status. When was the last time you had a-"

"Please, don't finish that sentence," Shane said, rolling his eyes and then looked down at his pager. "Gotta go, Shepherd wants me to scrub in on a Ventriculostomy. While you ladies are sitting over here drooling, I'll be scrubbing in on actual surgeries, not theoretical ones. He might actually let me fly solo."

"Yeah good luck with that," Heather said bitterly as she turned back to the window as she watched Dr. Buchanan begin to laugh. Both Drs. Hunt and Torres looked intrigued.

"Please refrain from discussing my sex life in front of Shane," Stephanie said as if on edge. "The last thing I need is him whispering anything to Jack - to Dr. Avery."

"Are you ever going to get over that guy? It's been over a year," Jo asked and Stephanie now rolled her eyes as Shane had moments prior.

"I am over him," she said matter-of-factly. "We had a thing, we broke up and now the thing is over. That's how these things work. We weren't even exclusive."

"Seriously?" Leah asked skeptically and Stephanie nodded. "The guy's an ass. He broke up with you because he was still - "

"Leah," Jo warned and Leah let herself trail off into another bite of the sugary sweet in her hand.

"It doesn't matter. He can mope around about April Kepner all he wants, but I got a date this weekend with a guy who does not practice medicine," she informed them and Leah sighed through her bites.

"I envy you. I just want to date someone normal, not someone I have to coordinate shifts or compete for surgeries with," Leah groaned. "Oh crap, they're done. Look busy," she said and the four woman quickly dispersed so they were no longer staring face to glass at the gorgeous candidate.

"Thank you Dr. Buchanan, we will be in touch later today," they heard the chief say from around the corner and Heather was blinded by the charming smile of Reese Buchanan.

He walked down the hall, glancing at them as he passed and grinned.

"Ladies," he said with a nod of his head before reaching the elevator. They watched as he stood there for several moments and then disappeared behind the metal doors. Their eyes didn't move.

"No surgeries this morning?" They heard, causing them to spin around quickly where the chief stood, his arms crossed over his chest with a raised eyebrow.

"We, uh, we just wanted to see the candidates," Heather stammered.

"Just taking an interest in the future of our hospital," Leah added while both Stephanie and Jo were at a loss for words.

"And in the meantime, who is covering the Pit?" Callie asked and the four women looked at one another. Callie sighed, annoyed. "Wilson, go to the Pit. Brooks, go find an attending to help. And Murphy, go find the last candidate. She's late."

"The last candidate?" Leah asked and Torres nodded.

"Eleanor Fox, the Trauma candidate. She was supposed to be here by now. If she's lost, I want her found, got it?"

"Got it," Leah replied and the three ran off in their respective directions, Jo sauntering slowly as she groaned to herself about the work in the Pit. That left Stephanie waiting for further instruction.

"And Edwards, find Kepner please," Owen added. "I need her here for the final interview."

"Yes chief," Stephanie said, heading off towards the ER, reluctantly. It seemed that her desire to avoid Kepner at all costs wasn't working out as well as she hoped.

When the hallway was cleared of interns, Callie finally turned to Owen gleefully, as if she was a child on Christmas morning.

"He's definitely the one," she said, smiling. "I've done my research and this guy is the who we need in Ortho. I'm tired of these insecure interns at my side. I need a badass who isn't afraid of a bone saw."

"Yeah I'd like one too. Losing Kepner is going to be tough enough without leaving Trauma empty. I need more than a replacement. I need, a Reese Buchanan, of Trauma," Owen said and Callie laughed.

"Badass Buchanan," she said fondly. "He's perfect."

"I'll have Gina type of the letter of offer before lunch," Owen agreed.

"Thanks Boss," she replied and stopped as Jackson Avery and Owen's secretary approached, the latter of the two looking anxious as she tried to keep up with Jackson's half-run pace. Owen could tell by the look on his face that he was about to get an earful.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me you were interviewing Dr. Fox?" Jackson asked and Owen looked at him with a furrowed brow, in confusion. "I thought we agreed we were striking her from the shortlist of candidates."

"Uh sir?" Gina tried to interrupt but neither man heard her.

"You scratched her from the list, but I'm Chief of Surgery, Avery. And I need surgeons, great surgeons. Give me one good reason that I shouldn't interview her," he asked in reply. Meanwhile, Gina tried to hand him a note, which Jackson took instead.

"Sir?" Gina said, louder this time and Owen glanced over at her.

"What is it?"

"She's not coming, Dr. Fox," Gina told him apologetically and Owen then reached for the paper in Jackson's hands. "I got a call about twenty minutes ago from the driver at the airport saying that she never got off the plane."

"What?" Owen asked and Jackson was shaking his head.

"Exactly my point," Jackson said angrily. "She's a flake, she has no business working in our hospital."

"Well I've heard only good things about her, glowing reviews actually. From everyone except you that is," Owen argued.

Callie stood and watched at the two fought back and forth for several moments before Jackson threw his hands up in the air in resignation.

"Do what you want, but if this even goes to the board, be sure you know which way my vote will go," he explained. "You'll be lucky if you ever hear from her again, so don't get your hopes up."

"What's got your scrubs in a twist," Callie asked and Jackson just shook his head.

It was then that the distinct sound of the elevator door closing was heard and they all turned around to see who they hadn't heard coming up to begin with. There stood a petite brunette in a black fitted dress and heels. She wasn't short exactly, but tall wouldn't begin to describe her either. She held a green umbrella in her left hand and a portfolio in the other with her curled hair gently tossed over one shoulder. The red lipstick of her lips was curved up into a kind smile as she stared at the doctors crowded in the hallway.

"Dr. Hunt?" she asked quickly in a clear English accent, walking towards them and Callie and Owen both noticed that Jackson's features stiffened at the sight of her.

"Dr. Fox?" Owen presumed and she nodded, stepping forward as he did to grip his hand, shaking it cordially.

"I apologize for my tardiness, I'm normally very prompt," she assured him and he glanced over his shoulder at Jackson who seemed unable to look away despite his sour expression. "Jackson," she greeted quietly causing the rest of them to turn and watch for Jackson's reaction.

He glanced down, finding something more interesting at the floor rather than the woman standing before him. Owen watched for several moments, looking between the two before signalling Gina to lead the candidate to the conference room. He gave Jackson one last look of confusion before following her in and shutting the door behind him.

Callie wanted to stay, to wait and see how Jackson would react next but her pager continued to beep, summoning her to a surgery she had put off all day to finish the candidate interviews. Gina followed suit, walking back to her desk at the front of the admin wing, right outside the Chief of Surgery's office.

That left Jackson, standing there, glancing slightly through the window where he could see the two talking and already he saw Owen begin to laugh. Jackson couldn't help but frown. He didn't want her here and he could tell by the way she glanced over at the window, catching his eye slightly, that she knew that. She had always been the kind of girl who could take a hint.

But still, she was here. In his hospital.

He had seen her application on Hunt's desk only two weeks prior and had been told she was declining the invitation to interview based on her personal conflicts with Grey-Sloan's chairman. He only had to glance at the name once to see why. He hadn't seen Eleanor Fox in seven years since their time in Philadelphia and he had no interest in dragging her to Seattle. But Owen had been persistent, and even though he'd explained that the conflict was too great to be ignored, she'd been called again anyways and had somehow ended up on a plane to Seattle and arrived in his hospital with a sly grin on her face.

And Jackson was livid.

"What's with the long face?" he heard and saw April standing next to him, noticing her for the first time.

"Nothing," he said, turning away and she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Jackson?" she said, furrowing her brow in concern. "What's wrong."

"I said it was nothing," he repeated and she bit her lip before walking into the room, her high pitched voice of faux excitement rising as she greeted the woman in surprise.

Unlike the woman currently being interviewed, April Kepner could not take a hint. He had tried to keep his distance for over a year and a half since she'd told him she wanted to be with him. Jackson had been in a relationship then, or at least some semblance of one. And April was newly engaged to be married. But he saw through it, saw that she didn't know what she wanted. For a slight moment that day he'd entertained giving her the reason she'd requested - a reason not to get married. But then he'd thought better of it. And then Stephanie had interrupted them and that half-second was ruined. He wasn't going to give her that reason. Because Matthew would make her happy.

Sure he'd felt a slight pang of jealousy rise up every time she had brought up Matthew's name before. He and April had barely broken it off before he pretended to move on. But when she started dating Matthew all his feelings came into question. He didn't know how he felt about April Kepner with another man. Perhaps it was leftover feelings of rejection welling up within him from when she'd offered him an out after the pregnancy scare, perhaps it was the fact that he had been her first. Either way, he'd been slightly annoyed with the Mapril, Matthew and April, situation.

But then that bus had exploded and Jackson remembered thinking he was going to die. And as much as Jackson hated to admit it, she wasn't the last face that popped up in his mind when he was faced with the idea of death. It was someone else's.

And perhaps that was why he had been so angry for the last year and a half. Everyone had noticed a change, they'd called into question his ability to function since his accident, his near death experience but he was fine. That's what he told them all.

Even he was almost starting to believe it.

* * *

"I'm sorry I just don't understand. Why do you want to veto this," Meredith asked, her arms crossed over her white coat as she sat at the conference room table.

Owen was on his feet from his previous shout-match with Jackson and Derek stood next to him trying to calm him down. Christina was shaking her head as Jackson stated again that Eleanor Fox would not be their newest hire in the Trauma Department.

"She comes heavily recommended," Derek added. "I have a friend in Tucson who says she's exactly what we're looking for."

"And she graduated from Dartmouth," Meredith said with a smile. "I hear a lot of good doctors come out of there."

It was the third time Meredith Grey had brought up that Eleanor attended Dartmouth, her alma mater in New Hampshire, and for the third time Jackson tried to put the thought from his mind. Callie had argued that this hospital was in severe lack of badasses and she and Reese would make a good pair. That thought, of course, didn't helped any. Arizona's vote was yes after she'd heard of a clinical trial back in Tucson that involved kids. And Christina made it unanimous, though she didn't seem to have a reason other than to piss of Jackson which was why she was smiling so widely.

"I get to use the veto without having a reason," he said bitterly and Owen laughed.

"But you do have a reason, don't you?" Owen said and all at once everyone in the room perked up at the implication.

"Were you guys married?" Derek asked, referring to his past with Addison Montgomery, Meredith swatted him. "Ow, what? I'm just saying I can understand a veto if it means bringing an ex-wife into the picture."

"Or more importantly, did she beat you out of your class at Penn?" Christina asked and Jackson rolled his eyes.

"She was three years younger than me," Jackson cut in. "And that was pre-med, if you haven't heard Grey - the last three times she mentioned it - Nora went to Dartmouth for med school."

"Ohhh," Callie teased with a laugh. "It's 'Nora' is it?"

"Laugh it up Torres, but I'm still using my veto," he said with a tone of finality in his voice. "We're not hiring her."

"Dr. Avery," Owen barked loudly with a sense of formality that caused everyone's teasing to cease as they watched the two. "May I see you outside for a moment?"

Jackson reluctantly followed Owen out into the hallway, several doors down before he followed him into a room that had a large window that looked out over the green park where the nurses sometimes walked the patients. But now it was still raining and an hour had passed since the sun had fallen in the sky, leaving them with the darkness periodically lit by a stretch of lightning.

"Need I remind you that you are the chairman of this hospital, a hospital that you told me deserved to be number one someday," Owen told him and Jackson sighed and placed his hands across his chest. When he tried to answer, he was interrupted by Owen shaking his head. "No, you said, 'this hospital will be number one someday, and to do that, we need the number one doctors.' Do you recall saying that?"

"Yes I said it but - "

"But nothing!" Owen shouted. "To keep this place a Trauma I center I need good - no, excellent - surgeons. Those other guys, the hardasses who think they have what it takes to keep their cool under pressure, they aren't number ones. Eleanor Fox is going to do that for us. She's going to put this hospital on the map with her credentials, with her caseload alone." Jackson swallowed his words, the words of protest he wanted to shout. "So, whatever this thing is - this, thing you have with her - I need it to be done, to be resolved to be forgiven, whatever the hell has got you so blinded to her potential for this hospital and my department, I need it gone. Because I'm not dropping this. I want her here."

"I -" Jackson started but stopped, placing a hand to his head as he searched for the words to say, but how could he start? How could he tell him why he didn't want Nora here. Everything sounded selfish when he tried to find the right phrasing. And maybe it was. "She's gonna let you down man," he said finally. "Nora's great at first, like a drug you can't help but take. You feel good for a while and when you start to come down, you need more of her and for a while it's great. For a while, you feel invincible. But out of nowhere - out of the blue - she brings you down, so far down you're pretty sure you've hit rock bottom and it's for no reason. There was no warning label, no listed side effects. Just an adverse reaction. That's her, she's the adverse reaction. She'll fuck this place over Hunt."

Owen stared at Jackson, his brow furrowed as he watched the man who had taken on so much as the chairman of the hospital, had lost friends, lost colleagues. Never had he seen Jackson Avery so infuriated by something and yet look so incredibly heartbroken in the same instance. He wasn't sure what had happened between the two of them, but it had been something bad enough that he'd buried it deep within him - so deep that none of them had ever witnessed this side of him. A man who was unsure.

"Fine," Owen said, the regret already piling up as he said the words. "If you want to use to veto, use it. But you are going to be the one to give her the news. Because I'm not going to call her up just to tell her my boss wouldn't let me give her the position due to personal conflict of interest."

And that was all that was said before he walked out of the room, leaving Jackson alone to contemplate what had just occurred. Seven years had passed since the last time he saw her and if it hadn't been for the constant influx of her accomplishments online he might have forgotten her face.

She was beautiful. He may have been angry at her but he couldn't deny her that. Nora had always had a cute smile and beyond stunning eyes. It was what he noticed about her the first time he saw her at the pub in Philly. But in seven years she had grown and he hated to admit it had been a positive kind of change.

When he reached Gina's desk she looked up at him expectantly and Jackson could see she was waiting for the verdict on the new hires before she could leave for the evening. She was tapping her pen on the table as she scrolled through a number of Yankee candle sale ads and smiled as he approached.

"What time does Dr. Buchanan land back in Boston?" he asked and she smiled widely at the thought of the man who had spent the better part of an hour flirting at her desk as he waited for his interview hours earlier.

"Dr. Buchanan won't land in Boston for another two hours. But he told me he will be available when he lands, if that helps," Gina suggested and Jackson nodded.

"And - uh -" he started and paused, sighing heavily. "Dr. Fox. Has she - has she flown back to Tucson?"

"No sir, she is checking into the Four Seasons tonight, on our bill," she replied and Jackson frowned.

"Of course she is," he muttered and Gina rose an eyebrow.

"What's that sir?" she asked and he shook his head.

"Nothing," he replied. "Can you get her on the phone?" he asked.

"Actually Dr. Avery, she hasn't checked in yet. She stopped by here on her way out and asked where the best place to grab a gluten-free beer. I thought it was strange myself. I don't know much about beer as it is, prefer a nice merlot in the evenings. But as it happens, I told her that Joe's might have what she's looking for."

"Joe's," Avery said. "You sent her to Joe's?"

"Yes, she said she'd call to let me know she had checked in, just in case Dr. Hunt needed to get ahold of her. She said she dropped her cell on the way in from the storm, won't work."

"Of course she did," he muttered again, throwing his hands in the air.

"Sorry sir, didn't catch that last part?" Gina inquired.

"Nothing," Jackson repeated. "It's fine, I'll just, go talk to her there. Thanks for the help," he told her. "And please, have whoever covers for you when you go home, call Buchanan as soon as he lands."

"I'd be happy to do it myself Dr. Avery," she said with a large grin and Avery couldn't help but crack a smile of his own.

"I'm sure you would be, Gina," he said, waving as he walked in the direction of the elevator. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Doctor."

* * *

"So you see, they brew it without the barley, and instead substitute it with sorghum," she told Joe, the bartender who was currently reading through a list of reasons gluten-free beer should be offered in every bar.

"You wrote this?" he asked her and Nora nodded.

"That's my blog," she told him proudly and he handed her back her cell phone and she placed it in her purse on her side.

"You're a blogger?"

"Well, I wrote one blog," she admitted. "Just that one post really. I'm a pretty shit blogger when it comes down to it. Never had the time for it. How do women have time to post every day - twice a day even?"

Both of them laughed as he handed her another glass of iced water, the only thing she could really drink in the bar unless she was planning to get epically wasted. But she was waiting for news and until that news came, she was going to face it sober.

"Well it's a good post," he told her. "Most blogs I read always seem so pretentious. But you're funny. You should write more."

"I don't know," she said shaking her head. "I spend so much time writing research, it's not like I have much time to write about gluten-free beer and home decor," she said and he laughed again before looking over her head to someone she assumed was standing directly behind her.

"Hey there Jackson," he said and Nora felt her carefree feeling disappear, replaced instead by the feeling of dread. She looked over her shoulder, slowly, taking in the tall figure of Jackson Avery who was not looking at Joe, but her instead.

"You shut your phone off?" he asked her.

"Water damage," she lied, nonchalantly, with a shrug, turning back towards the bar, forcing him to sit down next to her. "It rains here a lot."

"It's Seattle."

"Rains more than Tucson."

"Does it even rain at all in Tucson?" Joe asked and both of them looked back at the bartender who immediately took the hint and walked away.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her and Nora tried her best not to let that feeling well up in her chest as she stared into her eyes.

Jackson had always been the kind of guy who was straight to the point. Her first memory of Jackson was filled with is blunt wit and she could see not much had changed in that manner. Though there was no humor behind those eyes, only years of hurt. That part was her fault.

"In this bar or - "

"In Seattle."

"I was under the assumption that I was applying for a fellowship at your Hospital, Jackson," she replied with a smile but he didn't return it, only deepened his frown more.

"Don't call me that," he muttered her and she frowned.

"Fine. Dr. Avery," she corrected, her tone full of sarcasm.

"You can stop trying to be funny," he said looking away. "I know you do it when you're trying to lie."

"I'm not lying," she said, insulted. "I came here for the job."

"You can't just come to my town and lure me out to my bar with your little tricks, charm over my friends with all that British - "

"I was aware you owned the hospital, Jackson, but - "

"Dr. Avery," he corrected her again and she sighed, frustrated.

"I was aware, Dr. Avery, that you owned the hospital, but not that you owned the whole city," she said sarcastically.

"This is my city, you came here, I didn't ask you to come," he said, raising his voice.

"Yes, I do realize that now," she said, the ache growing in her throat nearly betraying her emotional front. She wanted to look composed and unaffected but the truth was seeing him was hard enough without knowing he was still so furious with her.

"Why are you here?," he said and the coldness in his tone stung her.

"It was stupid, really," she said looking away. "I wasn't going to come, I told myself I shouldn't."

"So why did you?" he asked forcefully and she looked away to hide the hurt in her eyes.

"I thought that you were the one who had asked me here," she admitted, raising her own voice.

He seemed taken aback for a moment as he considered her answer and she thought for a moment that the anger in his eyes was fading before he began laughing.

"You thought I wanted you here? After what happened?"

"Jackson," she pleaded.

"Stop," he insisted, closing his eyes. "Anyways, it doesn't matter. Here," he said handing her a folder. "That's your welcome packet. Welcome to Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital."

His voice was bitter, the kind of tone she had only heard from him maybe once in her life. She looked down at the folder in his hand, dumbfounded as he stood from the stool and turned to leave.

"Wait," she said quickly. "But you just said - "

"Doesn't matter what I said. The rest of the board wants you," he said, frowning. "Not me. I don't want you here."

And with those last words he left her there, looking like an idiot with a 'welcome' folder in her hands as she watched Jackson walk out into the rain, without an umbrella to shield him from it. She didn't know what to make of their encounter or the fact that he didn't want her here. She had come to Seattle in hopes that he was ready and that maybe, upon seeing him again, she would be ready as well, to make amends the things that she had done. She thought they'd meet and she'd have share some witty banter and he'd tell her he missed her.

But the terrible truth was that Jackson Avery still hated her. He hated her for leaving him seven years ago and she knew no amount of wishful thinking would change that.

She looked back at the bar where Joe was watching her curiously and then glanced out the door.

"So I take it you two know each other then?" Joe asked and she smiled as best as she could.

"You could say that."

* * *

**Thanks for reading. I know there aren't many JacksonxOC fics out there. So let me know if you guys are interested in me continuing! -F**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Dumbest System**

**by Farrah44**

**| Chapter Two |**

The sun had yet to rise in Seattle, leaving the interns rubbing their eyes as they clung desperately to their cups of coffee as they watched the surgery board curiously. It was Meredith Grey who was filling out the OR schedule for that morning and although there were several interesting procedures starting out, each of the interns eyes was glued to one space in particular.

"I was here all night and I didn't see her," Stephanie whispered, furrowing her brow. "I don't understand how I missed her."

"Was Shane even on call last night?" Jo asked, just as confused, reading his name on the board next to the lead surgeon's.

"The nurse said he came in early," Leah replied. "Said he was in the right place at the right time."

"But I was the one on call," Stephanie repeated. "It was my job to be in the right place at the right time. That should be my surgery."

"I was in the ER and I didn't see her either, but then again there was that patient who wouldn't stop vomiting - "

"Ew Heather, still drinking coffee here," Jo interrupted and Heather paused her story as they continued staring up at the board.

Meredith turned towards her interns with a raised eyebrow. They may have been second year interns, but they were still interns and interns didn't stand around gossiping when there were rounds to be prepared for. It only took one look from her to get them moving and suddenly they dispersed.

It was then that Christina walked up, staring up at the board with the same interest when she noticed the names on the top.

"She's barely hired and already she get's an awesome surgery?" Christina said, crossing her arms. "Does McDreamy have a prognosis on the new meat?"

"Derek got the page in the middle of the night and came straight in, I haven't heard anything from him since," Meredith replied, writing in Christina's 9am procedures. "Want an intern?"

"Do I have to?" she asked and Meredith shrugged. "Give me Happy I guess, no wait, Mousey, give me her."

"Ross is in Fox's surgery until late this morning anyways. He came out earlier and said that the knife did serious damage to the brain. Fox should be out soon though, she was doing some vascular repair from the other stab wounds."

"That woman should have learned to stab better so I could have gotten a surgery. I need a surgery," Christina said with a sigh.

"You have a surgery," Meredith laughed, pointing to where Christina's name was clearly printed.

"I have a heart transplant," Christina said, annoyed. "Happy could do a heart transplant."

"Ross could not do a heart transplant," they heard and both turned to see Jackson smiling as he stood next to them, his arms cross as he stared up at the board. "Did you put down my surgery for this afternoon?"

"I haven't gotten that far yet, but I do know that I'm going to have to bump you back an hour," she told him but he didn't seem to noticed as stared up at the board in the upper left hand corner. Christina and Meredith both exchanged glances. "That's fine," he said distractedly, walking in the direction of the OR 2 gallery that would look over Derek and Nora's surgery.

Naturally, they followed.

* * *

"Dr. Ross would you like to take the lead on these sutures?" Nora asked and Shane immediately perked up from his place where he was standing over her shoulder.

He had been watching intently as she flawlessly repaired the vessels in the iliac area where they were severed due to the knife wound. He took the instruments from him and she slid to the side and leaned over to watch his technique. Derek would look up periodically as well, watching the two surgeons working together and had to admit he was impressed with Nora's calm demeanor.

The thirty year old male on the table, Benjamin Grant, had come in with multiple stab wounds and the weapon that had still been lodged in the man's skull, much to Derek's surprise. When he walked into the OR to see Nora working effortlessly to repair several of the damaged areas, all whilst humming to herself calmly, he hadn't even been sure at first why he was paged at all. But when she pointed over to the knife sticking out of Benjamin's head, he immediately got to work.

"Seems you have an audience, Dr. Fox," Derek said with a grin, hidden by his mask as he continued to repair what had to be the luckiest of puncture wounds that he'd ever seen.

"Surely you mean Benjamin here has an audience," she replied with a small laugh. "It's not often that a man gets stabbed in the head and lives to tell the tale."

Nora then looked up to the gallery and saw Drs. Avery, Yang and Grey looking down at her intently. She tried not to let her eyes linger too long on Jackson's watchful gaze, turning her attention instead back to Shane who was looking slightly nervous as she started the sutures and Nora quickly grabbed his hand.

"Calmly, Dr. Ross," she whispered. "These are just like all the other sutures you've done, just focus on the placement. Now, why is it vital that you suture from within the vessel lumen outwards?"

"To make sure that the intima is flush and cannot be raised when blood flow is restored?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?" she asked Shane could hear the sternness in her voice.

"Telling you," he said, this time steadier.

"Good," she said, letting go of his hand. "Now let's see what you can do."

-

"She seems to have a hang of things," Meredith said, peering down over Nora's work and Christina nodded.

Owen, too, had made his way into the gallery when he arrived early, responding to an emergency page only to find that Nora Fox was already in her first surgery on a case of a seriously stab-happy girlfriend. He had initially started to scrub in to assist her but when he looked into the OR and saw she was completing her repairs with ease, he walked up to observe instead.

"How did it happen?" Jackson asked.

"The wounds or the surgery?" Owen replied.

"The surgery," Jackson clarified. "I thought she wasn't set to come in until this afternoon. Wasn't April on-call last night?"

"Kepner had a home emergency, something about her mother coming a day early for wedding dress something or other. Fox was just stopping in so she offered to take over," Owen explained and Jackson looked at him curiously.

"She was just, stopping in?" Jackson asked skeptically. "At 2 in the morning?"

"Something about insomnia, I don't know," Owen replied. "I was just glad she was here, that stab victim came in not long after. I wasn't here, but Ross said she handled it pretty easily, paged Shepherd and then me. Ross was here as well and she grabbed him and had the patient in the OR before he was even admitted."

"Guess she wasn't lying when she said she thrived under pressure," Christina said under her breath as she watched Nora stretching her back. "This is not making me look forward to the next seven hours of surgery I've got planned for today."

"You?" Meredith asked skeptically. "Since when are you not excited about a surgery."

"Didn't sleep well," Christina said. "Owen's pager made it impossible for me to go back to sleep this morning. Doesn't help that I'm starving. I swear I'm running on fumes." Meredith handed her a granola bar from her pocket, as if she'd known all along that the rumbling noises coming from her friend's stomach were in need of appeasing.

Owen looked over at Jackson who looked engrossed in the surgery below. Every couple minutes he would shift on his feet though his eyes never moved from Nora who was aiding Shane Ross with his last few sutures.

"What do you think?" he asked and Jackson looked up in surprise.

"About what?" he asked in reply and Owen smiled.

"About Dr. Fox, I'd say she's doing pretty great for her first day," Owen observed and Jackson shrugged. "You've never seen her perform a surgery, have you?"

"Not many pre-meds were performing surgeries back then at Penn," he said and April, who had only caught the tail end of the conversation looked surprised.

"I didn't realize you already knew Eleanor?" she asked, her tone high as she tried to hide her curiosity with a nonchalant glance towards the operating table.

"We met in undergrad at Penn, I only knew her for a while," Jackson said though Owen wasn't the only one who noticed he was downplaying what really went on between the two.

"I heard she was recruited from some private school in Concord," Christina said with her mouth full. "Got a full ride to the Ivies when they saw her tennis swing. How many jocks actually end up doing pre-med?"

Everyone looked at Jackson, who had played football for Penn all four years in order to get through his pre-med program.

"It was crew, not tennis," Jackson said solemnly before walking out of the room, leaving them all to watch his retreating form.

"Crew?" April asked.

"It's like rowing, for snobs," Christina said and both Owen and Meredith gave her a glaring look.

"Christina!" they both said at the same time.

"What?"

* * *

Jackson had decided to seek solace in the quietness of his office, somewhere far from the prying glances of Owen Hunt. He wasn't even sure of the reason he'd gone up to the gallery during Nora's surgery. Owen had been right, however. Jackson had never seen Nora in surgery, their time had long ended before either one of them had set foot inside an operating room.

And as angry as he was with her, he couldn't deny that she had looked incredible in surgery.

He had several hours before his surgery, which meant several hours to try and shake her from his thoughts. But as he walked into his office, he saw that instead of a vacant seat behind his cherrywood desk, sat his mother.

"Jackson," she said with a wide smile and he closed the door behind him.

"I thought you were in Boston," he asked her curiously and she shrugged.

"Can't a mother visit her favorite son?" she asked.

"As much as I appreciate you saying that, I'm not sure your other sons would be so accepting," he joked and she smiled.

"Just coming to check up on things. I heard you were hiring two new surgeons and I thought I'd…"

"You mean, you heard Nora was here and you wanted to see if I was okay," he corrected. She smiled.

"I'm sorry, I just can't believe she had the nerve to show up here," Catherine said bitterly.

"Hunt wanted her, and I don't blame him. She's a good surgeon," he admitted.

"But what she did -"

"It doesn't matter anymore. That was a long time ago. I'm not happy she's here either but I'm not going to deprive her of a job when the board agreed that she was the best candidate," he explained but Catherine was shaking her head.

"Jackson you are the chairman of this hospital. If you don't want her here - "

"I don't," he said, raising his voice.

"Then I'll take care if it," she said and Jackson frowned at her tone.

"No I don't need you to take care of it, it's been taken care of," He said firmly and she seemed taken aback by the seriousness in his voice.

They looked at each other for a long moment before she stood from his chair and walked over to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. She had that motherly look about her, the kind that said she was going to fight whatever battles he needed her to fight. He hated it. All his life she'd acted this way towards him, as if he couldn't fight his own battles himself, as if she didn't expect him to.

"She hurt you Jackson. And I don't take kindly to people who hurt my family," she said, frowning. "You offered her everything and she walked all over you, walked out of your life when you needed her most. And now she's back? What more does she want from us? Hasn't she already asked enough?"

Jackson looked at his mother curiously. There was something strange in the way she was talking about Nora, an almost desperation in the way she talked about taking care of it. His mother had never been very fond of Nora when they dated so many years ago. Even then he could never figure out what she didn't like about her. At least now he could understand. Nora had left him and Catherine Avery didn't take well to people who interfered with the happiness of her children.

That had always been clear.

But she had said 'what more does she want from us' when talking about Nora's arrival. The two had met several times but Nora leaving had nothing to do with his mother.

At least he didn't think it did.

"I have a surgery," he lied as he walked towards the door but she held firmly to his arm.

"Just - " she started and he turned to look down at her. "Just keep your distance, promise me that. I don't want her trying to hurt you again. I know how you felt about her."

"I haven't felt that way in a long time," he insisted, before pushing past her and out the door.

* * *

It was clear from spending approximately twelve and a half minutes with April Kepner that she was in love with two people, Jackson Avery being one of them. Nora laughed and smiled at all of April's jokes, but it did not escape her how often she mentioned Jackson's name with the utmost fondness in her sweet voice.

Nora had never been described as sweet in her life. Sweet was saved for people like April Kepner who had big smiles and cheerful stories. People who didn't have darkness in their hearts. April had experienced loss and fear, but somehow she still managed to be full of glittery optimism.

It was overwhelming to say the least.

Nora remembered could hardly remember feeling such innocence. Even after all April did to hide her feelings, it was clear in those eyes of hers that she simply was not over Jackson, despite her wedding being only six months away. Six months was plenty of time to postpone her wedding once again. Or cancel it. Nora got the impression that all the postponement was because of April's uncertainty. Nora couldn't help but wonder if the girl's fiance was as naive as her.

"He said he knew you in college?" April said, doing her best once again to be subtle about her prying into Nora and Jackson's past. But subtlety was an art that poor April Kepner would never master.

"We were at Penn together," Nora told her, feeding the girl's questions. "I was a freshman and he was a senior. Dr. Avery played football, cornerback."

"Is that on offense?" April asked and Nora raised an eyebrow.

"Defense."

"Right, defense."

"I graduated a year early and he was still in med school. After that, I moved to Hanover to attend Dartmouth and we haven't spoken since," Nora said.

It was the brief version, the one sentence summary of their time together and she prefered to keep it that way for Jackson's sake. He'd made it very clear he didn't want her here and with that being the case, she assumed he didn't want people knowing just how involved they'd been all those years ago. And to be honest, she was perfectly okay with that as well.

"So how did you guys meet?" April asked and Nora was glad at that moment that April was too distracted by Jackson's arrival that she was no longer paying attention to Nora's stalling of the question.

"Dr. Fox," he said cordially and Nora couldn't help but show her annoyance by frowning.

"Dr. Avery," she replied, with the same unenthusiastic tone.

"May I speak with you for a moment?" he asked and she sighed, standing from her previous spot and walking in the direction he started off towards.

They walked down the hallway for several moments without speaking and she began to wonder if he was going to say anything at all. They passed several patient rooms as if he was looking for one in particular before guiding her into one that appeared to be empty, the lights off and only the light from the window pouring in. When he shut the door behind him, she felt her nerves rising just as they had before she'd stepped off the plane that landed in Seattle two weeks prior.

"I have a surgery today," he said finally and Nora couldn't help but feel as if his words anticlimactic. Disappointing. But what had she expected?

"Yes, I saw the board?" she said, sounding more like a question than an affirmation, not sure how to answer and he shook his head.

"I have a surgery today," he began again. "And you're running around doing other people's surgeries - "

"Perhaps you mean I was doing my job, that man needed surgery," she said defensively, raising her voice.

"No, I mean, you weren't even on duty, April shouldn't have left. She should have been here to take care of that surgery, you should even be in today until noon. And now my mother - my mother is roaming the halls trying to fix things," he ranted and Nora could see that he was ranting because he was overwhelmed and because there was something else on his mind. But all of it made little sense to her.

"Catherine is here?" she asked nervously and Jackson took in her expression.

"Why does he hate you?" he asked her and she looked away.

"I can't presume to know what goes on in that woman's head, but I assume it has something to do with what happened," she said shrugging her shoulders and he was shaking his head.

"Yeah, I thought so too but the more I think about it, the more I can't wrap my head around it," he told her cryptically and she waited for him to continue. "I never told her about that day and yet she takes it more personally than even I do. Why is that Nora?"

It was the first time she'd heard him say her name in years. The sound of it rolling off his lips, even in the angry tone he was using, felt so familiar. If he hadn't been yelling at her it would have almost been comforting the way he finally used her name instead of her formal title.

"She never liked me Jackson. You know that," she said, saying his name and she could see that he didn't appreciate it as much as she had. "And I don't think you had to tell her what happened for her to put the pieces together herself. You're her son. And I - "

"Why did you leave me?" he interrupted and it caught her off guard. She swallowed, trying to remember how to speak in that moment but she was afraid if she did all she would say was the truth. And the truth was something Jackson couldn't handle, not right now.

"Av," she whispered, looking away.

"Don't," he said, almost shouted. "Don't call me that," he said, this time his voice softer.

"We don't have to do this you know," she told him finally. "We don't have to go through this and try to make amends. You don't have to try to dig up the past and try to forgive me because I don't deserve that. I know me being here is hard. That's why you barely look at me, why you won't even say my name anymore." His eyes caught hers and she had forgotten how mesmerizing they were. "What happened between us, happened so long ago. We were young and I was stupid. I can never apologize enough for hurting you."

"You can tell me why," he asked again.

"I told you why," she said impatiently, not wanting to see the hurt in his eyes, repeating that day that she had already relived too many times for her comfort. "We were young, too young. It never would have worked."

There was a moment then, she thought, when he might reach out to her. She watched his hand twitch involuntarily and her heart leapt at the thought of his touch against her skin, something she had longed for every moment since their parting.

"Did she pay you?" he asked and the bluntness of the question stung her, took her aback. Suddenly she felt like she couldn't breath as her heart began to quicken its pace.

"Did she what? Who?"

"My mother," Jackson said angrily, stepping towards her so that he was looking down into her eyes, waiting to see if she would dare to lie. "She said something, earlier. Said you asked a lot from us." He paused then, grabbing her arm in his hand. "Did she pay you, to leave me?"

She didn't even know what came over her when she rose her hand and slapped him across the face. She had been so overwhelmed with fury, the question an insult to her character, that she couldn't control the action that was currently leaving Jackson with his hand on his left cheek, looking at her in surprise.

"How dare you," she whispered angrily and walked out of the room as quickly as she could before she felt vulnerable enough to start doing something stupid, like cry.

* * *

The afternoon seemed almost never ending. He'd confronted Nora with the purpose of getting closure on the past and only succeeded in making things worse between them. Then he'd gone and asked Reese Buchanan to scrub in on his surgery, which lead to more conversation about the woman he was currently trying to pry from his mind.

"She is quite possibly the best wingman I've ever had, in my life," Reese said loudly, over the sound of the bone saw he was currently using. "We've both been house hunting and so we just kept running into each other all over town. Finally I invited her to dinner. She goes to the bar for - I don't know - maybe five minutes. She comes back and tells me there are three girls asking for my phone number. Turns out, she was telling them I was her brother, in town on a consultation. Worked out so well that we did it again at dinner last night."

"You guys are having lots of dinners, aren't you," Jackson said, annoyed further by Reese's excitement.

"As long as she keeps finding me dates, she can come to dinner with my every night," Reese replied, ignoring Jackson's sarcasm. "Did she used to do that for you? Is that how you two know each other?"

"She didn't tell you?" Jackson asked, frowning and Reese shook his head. "No, we never did that. She learned it from her brother Jamie."

Suddenly the bone saw stopped and Reese looked up at him from behind his safety glasses and mask. And then proceeded the much anticipated laughter that seemed to always occur at any mention of Nora's older brother.

"Hold on," Reese said, trying to control his laughter. "Her brother's name is Jamie?

"Not like Jamie Foxx," Jackson said, almost cracking a smile. "They have different last names."

"Different parents?"

"Uh, no, Jamie has his dad's last name and Nora has her mom's. Long story," Jackson said, distracted.

"She's not exactly one for long stories is she?" Reese asked as if he and Jackson had been best friends discussing a mutual ex-girlfriend. The thought only caused his almost smile to disappear.

"Could you, perhaps, explain to Dr. Edwards the procedure you're using, Dr. Buchanan," Jackson said instead of replying to Reese's joke.

Stephanie had been listening carefully as the entire conversation took place in front of her. She had seen Reese and Nora looking particularly friendly all morning and was comforted by that, knowing that if she was too busy flirting with Reese, then she would be keeping her distance from Jackson. But based on the look in Jackson's eyes when Reese said he'd taken Nora out to dinner, the hopes were crushed.

Jackson still felt for her. Perhaps it was just pent up anger or maybe it was sisterly love - she might know more if he actually talked about her - but whatever it was, he still felt something. And Stephanie didn't like it one bit. She'd given him time and space to get over whatever this thing was that he had going on with April. But Nora Fox was not about to swoop in and benefit off of all of Stephanie's patient waiting.

Not if she had anything to say about it anyways.

She nudged herself in front of Jackson so that she could see better and she smiled behind the cover of her mask when he didn't move his body away. She had spent the last two weeks trying to make Jackson jealous, talking about her dates with other men but he seemed as if he was off in another world. The closeness of his body heat made her remember late summer nights and passionate kisses in bars. If she could only remind him of how happy they'd been, maybe he'd begin to realize that she was here waiting for him.

But Jackson wasn't thinking of Stephanie Edwards, nor was he thinking of the excellent job she was doing on the repair technique Reese had just shown her. Jackson was still thinking of the conversation he'd had with his mother and how his suggestion of some sort of deal between her and Nora had offended the latter. He could still feel the sting of her cold fingertips against his cheek and recalled regretting the words just as soon as they'd left his lips.

But he couldn't find an explanation, and he had always refused to accept Nora's. There was a reason she had left him all those years ago and whatever reason it was, it was big enough that she had lied to him when she walked away that spring day. He could always tell when she was lying. Just like she had lied when she told him she didn't love him that day.

And he still didn't know why.

* * *

The restaurant was crowded, loud voices traveling over the large room. Guests were seated at the small tables with the intimate lighting and the relaxing ambience of the piano playing in the corner. The large windows overlooking the city were exactly the kind of thing that caused Nora to glow with excitement. It was the Skycity restaurant she was standing in. The restarant located in the upper half of Seattle's Space Needle. She had always loved to travel, loved doing all the cliche tourist visits, even as an adult.

But this was one tourist spot she was not looking forward to.

She didn't have to ask the hostess to seat her because when she walked in she saw her table almost immediately. She handed her coat to the attendant and walked across the main room, seeing the woman look up from her place at the window and smile that same faux smile Nora knew better than any other.

"Eleanor," the woman said, her voice sticky sweet and more acidic than she had remembered. Nora did her best to smile but she knew it must have come across as fake as it felt by the look on the woman's face.

"Catherine," Nora replied as pleasantly as she could muster and the woman stood and kissed her cheeks, causing Nora to cringe.

She sat down, flattening her skirt as she did so and crossing her legs, one over the other so that her heeled foot hung lightly as she liked it. It only took a few moments before she started swinging it lightly in anticipation of what Catherine Avery was about to say with the sugary sweet smile of hers.

"It has been so long since I've seen you last," Catherine beamed. You were barely a woman and now look at you."

"Yes, seven years can surely change a person," Nora replied curtly as she looked over the wine menu, wishing she would have stopped at Joe's on her way over to help take of the edge.

"I'm sure you know why I asked you here," the older woman said, her smile fading somewhat. Nora glanced up from behind the menu, her eyes peering over at the woman who was Jackson's mother. She had known them both from several years, multiple Thanksgivings and family dinners. But still she wasn't sure how Jackson and Catherine could be related in anything other than their physical genes.

"I actually have no idea, Catherine," Nora said bitterly. "The last time we talked, you said it'd be the last time. And I was so looking forward to you keeping that promise."

"I recall other promises that were made, dear," Catherine reminded her and Nora's foot stopped swaying as she froze at the memory.

"He asked me about it, early today," she whispered and Catherine's eyes widened slightly so that Nora was sure she'd caught her attention.

"Miss," the waiter interrupted looking down at her with smile. He was a charming young man, only a few years younger than Nora perhaps and he had a nice smile. Too bad he was going to play witness to the bitterness between these two women tonight, Nora thought. "May I bring you a glass of wine?"

"Yes," Nora replied kindly, noticing that Catherine was already sipping hers. "I'll take a glass of the Amavi Cabernet, please."

"Excellent choice Miss," he said, nodding and turning on his heel to fetch her large glass of comfort.

Nora then looked back at Catherine.

"What did he say?" she asked Nora who sighed heavily, wishing she was anywhere but here at this moment.

"He asked me if," she started and frowned. "He asked if you paid me to leave him."

"Ha!" Catherine laughed heartily. "And I hope you told him no."

"I did tell him no because I sent your money back, every penny. I didn't want it, I told you that and you sent it to me anyways."

"Well I had to be sure you would keep your promise," Catherine said, shrugging as she pulled her shawl over her shoulder as it slipped. "And you did. Until now that is."

"There was no time requirement, Catherine," Nora said bitterly. "It's been seven bloody - " she paused as the waiter placed her large wine glass in front of him and she smiled appreciatively.

"Ladies, are we ready to order anything?" he asked and she held her hand up.

"No, thank you, I will not be eating."

"Eleanor, you shouldn't drink on an empty stomach," Catherine said with a faux sense of concern.

"I will not be here long, thank you," she said again to the waiter who simply nodded, taking the hint that the two women were not as amicable as they had once perhaps seemed.

"You should be careful about how you discuss our arrangement, dear," Catherine instructed her once the waiter had disappeared. "Neither of us want to see Jackson hurt."

"He wouldn't have been hurt in the first place had it not been for you," Nora remind her, taking a sip of her wine and feeling the alcohol's bitter taste on her tongue. She then took another.

"I know what's best for my son and you, my dear Eleanor, are not it," Catherine said, looking over Nora with a disapproving glare.

"Jackson knew what he wanted, he wanted to be happy and you wouldn't let him have that."

"You would have destroyed his future, you almost did, as you might remember," Catherine said with a raised eyebrow and Nora lowered her glass from her mouth slowly as she shot Catherine a vicious glare.

"Don't you dare," she whispered slowly and Catherine smiled victoriously.

"Apologies, I just know how close he was to having a life he never wanted."

"He chose a life with me," Nora whispered. "You stole that from him."

"No, as he sees it, you are the one who stole it from him," Catherine corrected and Nora placed her glass on the table and then her hands in her lap so that the woman across from her would not see her fingers trembling in anger.

"I won't be a part of this," Nora said slowly. "I refuse to keep up with this game. I did my time in the misery of your schemes but Jackson is a grown man now. And I am no longer your toy, do you hear me?" Nora asked, standing quickly and throwing the cloth napkin on the vacant space where she had previously been sitting. "This was never a game to me. You didn't just steal a life from him."

"If you breathe a word of this to him - " Catherine said, darkly, the real her peering through the facade.

"No," Nora interrupted. "You may not threaten me anymore, or him. I am through with you. If he asks me again, I'm not going to lie. He deserves to know the truth Catherine, and I have waited long enough. The only reason I haven't told him already is because I couldn't bear to be the reason he hates you."

Nora didn't wait to see Catherine's reaction then. She turned quickly, leaving what was due to the kind waiter on table and then seeing herself out. She didn't turn back, fearing the woman's glance would coerce her into something significantly worse than the games she'd played in the past.

She sat quietly in the taxi, ignoring the sparkling lights of the city as they traveled slowly towards her new apartment where boxes were awaiting her. She couldn't move, could hardly breathe as she leaned back in the seat and wondered what might have happened seven years ago if she had been the brave person she was today.

But as she thought of Jackson's accusing glare from earlier that afternoon, she thought perhaps she wasn't so brave after all.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for checking out the story, hoping you are enjoying it so far. Thank you to those who reviewed, it means a lot to me that you took the time to give a few encouraging words. Hopefully you will continue to like it as I move forward.  
Thank you - F**


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